On the 19th of January 2017 Higherlife Foundation officially signed an MOU with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education of Zimbabwe (MoPSe) in Harare at a ceremony that started at 18:30hrs at the Rainbow Towers Hotel. A total of 60 people attended and the ceremony including the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Hon Dr. L.Dokora, as the guest of honor, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr. S. Utete-Masango, the Principal Director for Schools Mr. P. Muzawazi and 9 Provincial Education Directors.
The programming work captured in the MoU includes, among other things, the dispensing of scholarships, the rollout of Ruzivo in schools and the training of Teachers in ICT skills. It also covers other related initiatives the Foundation may want to implement in collaboration with the Ministry and its representatives from time to time.
In his speech, the Honorable Minister Dr. L. Dokora said that Government is very keen and open to working with partners especially in the roll out of the new curriculum. The Minister also announced that besides the great work Higherlife Foundation has already been doing in education, there was some collaboration that was in progress were Higherlife Foundation had committed to chip in and play a part in the construction of a model, prototype school in the remote Kanyemba community among the Doma people, whom he said were generally neglected and greatly in need of education facilities. He commended Higherlife Foundation for stepping up to play a role and urged other organizations to emulate the Foundation by partnering with the Government in bringing education to remote parts of the country.
The Permanent Secretary went on to highlight that the MOU comes at the opportune time as the Zimbabwean Government is rolling out the new curriculum which puts a huge emphasis on the use of ICT in schools and the development of 21st century skills. The resounding sentiment in the Minister’s, the Permanent Secretary’s and the Higherlife Foundations Executive Director’s address, was the desire by all parties to ensure equitable access to quality learning resources for all children in Zimbabwe.
The signing of this MOU represents an endorsement on the work done by the Foundation in the past 20 years and will go a long way in underpinning Higherlife Foundation’s goal to impact 2 million African Scholars by 2020.
